Youth-focused initiatives found special mention at the Public Sector Bank (PSB) Confluence hosted by the Department of Financial Services, Ministry of Finance, in New Delhi from August 17-18. Addressing 125 senior representatives of PSBs, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman asked these banks to be ‘cool’ enough for Gen Z.
“Public sector banks still give the impression of government banks,” Sitharaman said.
The minister claimed that recent interaction with youngsters revealed they preferred private sector banks because they were cooler than the public ones. “I need public sector banks not to be ‘not cool.’ Please get some young people to talk to you all. What makes you appear cool, or at least one portion of your banks, when they sit in front of customers, make sure everything is cool,” she said.
The minister clarified this was not a recommendation to banks to do anything to appear cooler and not bank enough. She urged them to strike a balance between the serious business of banking and being cool enough to attract youngsters to PSBs.
Engaging with young people is both a responsibility and an opportunity for banks. India has one of the world’s youngest populations, and the youth continues to drive patterns of consumption, savings, investments, entrepreneurship and wealth creation.
She said banks should move toward a life-cycle approach to build long-term relationships from ‘campus to career.’ To attract tech-savvy users—noting that 66 per cent of UPI transactions are made by those aged 18–29—banks should offer lifestyle-linked benefits such as vouchers for fitness and wellness platforms.
To bring this into action, the minister urged the banks to launch a month-long ‘Banking for Youth’ drive on October 2. The initiative will target the youth aged 16 and above to actively reach them prior to their financial journey.
It could be jointly managed by the Department of Financial Services (DFS) and the Indian Banks’ Association (IBA). Youth banking spaces such as ‘Yuva Kiosks’ or Yuva Banking Mitra will be created at physical bank branches to help youth navigate their finances.
This shall include building awareness of the formal credit ecosystem, credit scores, various bank credit products, and government credit schemes.
The two-day PSB Confluence meeting saw discussions across seven themes relevant to the next phase of growth of the banking and financial sector. Other topics discussed were deposit mobilisation, banking for youth, supporting the investment cycle, global capability centres, agriculture and horticulture value chain infrastructure, priority sector lending, and reimagining the credit card business.
